


Alone in the World

by a_mere_trifle



Series: Fade to Black [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-23
Updated: 2010-05-23
Packaged: 2017-10-09 16:09:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/89227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_mere_trifle/pseuds/a_mere_trifle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave had gotten pretty used to the idea of being alone in the world. (alt-timeline)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alone in the World

**Author's Note:**

> Alternate summary: [ In pictoral form.](http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a478/a_mere_trifle/Misc%20Fanart/mspa%20fanart/dave_dad.jpg)
> 
> Basically, an explanation of why I never liked the idea of the Guardians existing in the alternate timeline.

Dave had gotten pretty used to the idea of being alone in the world. There wasn't much living in his world or Rose's that wasn't trying to kill them. She'd said something about her mother making it to her planet, but the lady was nowhere to be found, so he kinda figured she was being uncharacteristically optimistic-- which she seemed to be doing a lot these days. His Pesterchum was silent except for her, and given what they'd learned about just how many meteors were headed Earth's way, he was pretty sure anyone left on that godforsaken dump could probably be written off, too. It was him, Rose, and demons from hell, and he'd made a sort of uneasy peace with that.

Which was why it came as such a shock when the giclops he was about to face was suddenly felled by a fist to the eye.

Dave jumped back, startled enough that he almost failed to miss the wave of lava the creature's fall caused. It got up again, roaring defiance-- and the guy was still there, beating the everloving shit out of the thing like Sylvester fucking Stallone. Dave didn't know what the fuck; his brain was pretty much running on safe mode-- Windows, for fuck's sake-- and this bullshit was pretty close to the limits of what he could handle.

The thing exploded in a shower of grist, and the guy was still there, landing neatly in a crouch on the nearest gear. Dave had no idea how the fuck the guy could actually be there, but he didn't disappear as Dave casually edged closer to the closest chunk of amber, keeping a wary eye on him. The dude looked like crap. He had a broken pipe, his clothes were stained with oil and tar, and he was missing both a shoe and about half of his pants. Mostly the bottom half, thank jegus.

And the thing was, despite all that, and despite the fact that Dave had just watched him beat the shit out of a monster _with his fists_, Dave would _swear_ he was the most irredeemably lame old geezer he had ever seen.

"Holy shit," he muttered.

"Watch your tongue, young man," the guy scolded.

"Uh." Dave shook his head. Christ, this was getting surreal. "Thanks."

"Oh, I'm sure you could've handled that one by yourself." The dude waved it off. "I was just wanting to talk to you."

"Talk?" It had been a while since Dave had talked aloud, actually; he and Rose were usually a planet apart, these days, except in dreams. His throat was feeling a bit scratchy from disuse.

"You're Dave, right?" The man walked up to him, extending a hand. The fucking _apocalypse_ and this guy wanted a formal introduction.

Well, fuck it. "Yeah," he said, shaking hands. "Dave Strider."

"I'm Mr. Egbert," said the man. "John's father."

For quite possibly the first time in his life, Dave's mind went utterly blank. He could almost hear a million gears whirring faster than ever before, but absolutely nothing would catch.

"You do know about the Guardians, don't you?" said the man, his brow furrowing.

"...My kernelsprite is over there," Dave found himself saying, and nodded toward the horizon. Calsprite was laughing maniacally, beating some unfortunate minor imp to death with a naked puppet. Not even a magical naked puppet; just some obscene green thing he'd grabbed at the apartment. Dave wasn't sure why that made it worse, but it definitely did.

"...I can see how that might be a problem." The man-- Christ, John's father, John's father was here-- scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, let me fill you in, then. Each of you players has a Guardian. I'm John's, Ms. Lalonde is Rose's, your brother is yours, of course, and Jade has that strange grandfather of hers. We keep in touch."

"Wait-- wait, my brother is here?" Dave's eyes flew open wide behind his shades.

"Yes." Mr. Egbert blinked. "You didn't know by now?"

"I... kind of figured he was still on Earth. With all the meteors." Dave found himself alarmingly close to babbling, or shaking, or god forbid, something even more embarassing. He took a deep breath, surreptitiously. He didn't want to lose his cool; he didn't have much else left.

"Oh, no, no, not at all, he's perfectly safe." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you didn't know. Honestly, we expected we'd have met up with you quite some time ago. And your brother... Well, he's kind of..."

"A fucking tool?" Dave suggested.

"_Intemperate_, sometimes," corrected Mr. Egbert, frostily. Actually waving a goddamn finger at him in remonstration, Jegus fuck. "_Language_. I hope you don't use that potty mouth around my son."

"Uh."

"Oh, who am I kidding." Mr. Egbert shook his head. "But really, I don't mean to criticize, but we all thought you'd be much further along by now. We'd planned to meet up with you-- heavens, weeks ago."

"Oh," said Dave. "That's-- good to know."

"We aren't really supposed to talk to you, not yet, but... might I trust you with a secret?"

"...Sure," said Dave. "Who'm I gonna tell?"

"I keep track of my son's Pester-thing account," Mr. Egbert confided. "It seems to have fallen inactive. And I'd think you four would have a lot to talk about."

"...Yeah," said Dave, as he finally began to see where this was going.

"I've been looking for him all over, but somehow, I can't seem to catch him," said Mr. Egbert. "Now, I want to allow you boys your freedom and all, but-- do you have any idea where John might be?"

Dave opened his mouth, then closed it again. This could not be happening. For fuck's sake, this could not be happening.

"Any idea at all?" Mr. Egbert prompted. "I don't want to interfere. I just want to make sure he's all right."

"Uh," said Dave. "I. Haven't really heard from him in a while."

"See, that worries me," said Mr. Egbert, frowning. "John is normally so talkative."

Shit, this was happening. Dave took a deep breath. "Yeah, so here's the thing. There were these trolls. Do you know about the trolls?"

"Trolls?"

"From the future or some bullshit like that," said Dave. "Kept bitching that we were going to fuck everything up."

"Are you doing that on purpose? You really need to expand your vocabulary, son." Mr. Egbert scowled.

"What? Oh, yeah, the swearing. Uh, sorry, I guess." Dave shook his head. Last thing in the world he could give a shit about right now. "Look, listen to me. They were trolls, playing this game sometime in the future, and they talked to us, right? On Pesterchum."

"All right," said Mr. Egbert. "I see. But what does this have to do with my son?"

"I'm getting to that. So these trolls started-- well-- trolling us. Do you know what that means?"

"I'm not entirely ignorant of internet culture, boy," said Mr. Egbert, drily.

"Just making sure. So one of these trolls decides to start 'helping' John. She was gonna give him 'tips'. To get him through the game faster. Yeah?"

"Wouldn't that be cheating?"

Dave scoffed, spreading his arms. "Look at this place. Look at what's happening on Earth. This isn't some _game_. Who the hell cares?!"

Mr. Egbert frowned. "I'm glad you're not taking this lightly, but--"

"First," said Dave, "she made him a jetpack. Then she told him how to get to the seventh gate."

Mr. Egbert blinked. "Where the Denizen is? You can't just skip to the end like that; the thing would wake up and..."

Dave nodded.

"...Wait, what are you saying?" said Mr. Egbert. "That John actually went to try and fight his Denizen?"

Dave nodded.

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he's a-- because he trusts people," said Dave. "Fuck if I know why."

"Well, what happened?" said Mr. Egbert.

Dave slapped his forehead, thinking something disjointed about apples and trees. "_Please_ don't make me spell this out."

"Spell what out? Is John hurt?"

"Yes," said Dave.

"Is he still in the Denizen's lair?"

"Ye-- hey, wait, DON'T go there!" Dave yelled, struck by a blind panic as Mr. Egbert turned away.

"Strider, my son is hurt, I--"

"You can't! You-- can't go there. You just-- don't want to--" Dave found himself shaking his head, a lump of panic in his throat.

"If my son is hurt, I have to--"

"He isn't!" Dave yelled. "Do you not get this?! You can't do anything!"

Mr. Egbert shook his head. "I don't understand. Are you saying you were lying to me? That John isn't hurt? Then where is he?"

"No, no, _fuck_, I'm saying--" Utterly inappropriate lines about ex-parrots flooded his mind; he winced, searching for words, any words other than the obvious two. "I'm saying you can't help him, I'm saying it's too late. I'm saying he went to fight the fucking Denizen before he could get past the second gate. I'm saying you can't go there because you-- because you don't want to see-- it's pretty bad, and you just-- even that picture, you don't want it in your head, because it won't go away. You don't want to go there. Please, for the love of fuck, don't go."

"...You're lying to me, aren't you?" said Mr. Egbert. "You're just like your brother."

Dave's head jerked upward. "What, no--"

"I don't think that boy's said a single sincere thing in his life," said Mr. Egbert. "I should've known you'd be two eggs from the same basket, but since you're friends with John, I suppose I hoped--"

"This," said Dave. "This is the one sincere thing I have said in my life. Do. Not. Go. There. Just-- don't. Just wait, just a little longer. I can fix this. Please."

Mr. Egbert stared at Dave for a long moment. God damn, the man was fatherly, and Dave had already disappointed him. He'd never even fathomed just how bitter a feeling that could be.

Without another word, the man turned and walked away.

"_Fuck_," Dave muttered, hoping to... something... that Mr. Egbert would believe him. It'd been fucking weeks, there had been so much blood, and-- shit, he didn't want to think about it, he didn't want to think ever again.

They weren't alone in the world after all. And that made it so much worse.


End file.
